First Nations group focuses on job demand

With Canada’s baby boomers getting set to retire and the growth of a number of industries requiring skilled workers, a major shift in the labour force is on the horizon. One group is trying to make sure Canada’s aboriginal communities are at the forefront.

According to the Canadian Council for Aboriginal Business, roughly 317,000 new skilled workers will be needed in Canada by 2017 to replace retirees and meet new demand. Construction on energy projects will be a major part of that need.

One of the mandates of the council is bridging the gap between the trades sector and aboriginal communities. The organization is hosting a luncheon in Halifax on Thursday called “Trades perspective: A look at the road ahead to bolster aboriginal participation” to facilitate building mutually beneficial relationships between corporate Canada and aboriginal communities.

The keynote speaker is Christopher Smillie, senior adviser of government relations and public affairs with Canada’s Building Trades Union. Smillie is slated to discuss issues like how to engage aboriginal communities to participate in the trades; recruitment, hiring and training of aboriginal people looking to enter the construction workforce; and retention plans within the trades sector.

J.P. Gladu, president and CEO of the council, said Canada’s aboriginal communities represent a large, untapped workforce that could benefit the trades sector in a big way.

“In the next 10 years, we’re going to lose 25 per cent of our workforce in the trades sector, and on the other side of that we’ve got Canada’s fastest(-growing), youngest demographic,” Gladu told The Chronicle Herald. “Half of (the aboriginal) age demographic is below 26 … and it’s growing.”

Gladu called the relationship between the aboriginal population and corporate Canada fragmented, and said the only way to strengthen that bond is to facilitate communication.

“Rebuilding that trust is going to take a long time and the challenge is that we’re running out of time when it comes to some of the major projects that are happening in this country,” he said.

“Without good relationships between the indigenous community and corporate Canada, our efficiency as global competitors, and our ability to get projects done, becomes hampered.”

Moreover, he said, there is major government infrastructure spending on the horizon — $250 million over five years in Nova Scotia alone — which could benefit from a skilled aboriginal workforce.

Gladu said he believes all levels of government should play a role in supporting the relationship between corporations and aboriginal communities.

“This game of Ping-Pong in this country between the provinces and the feds and indigenous people being in the middle has to stop, and industry is starting to understand this.”

Statistics from the Nova Scotia Office of Aboriginal Affairs website cite the unemployment rate for people living on-reserve in the 2006 census at 24.6 per cent compared with 9.1 per cent for all Nova Scotians. The unemployment rate for all people of aboriginal identity was 15.5 per cent.

According to the Labour and Advanced Education Department, as of April 30, there were 161 aboriginal apprentices in Nova Scotia, and the province is looking to increase that number.

“The agency is working with industry and stakeholders to engage communities and employers to increase participation and certification in apprenticeship training,” a department spokeswoman said in an e-mail.

There are already a number of initiatives in Nova Scotia to connect aboriginal youth to the trades sector. The province is working with First Nation communities to provide pre-apprenticeship opportunities in trades such as carpentry, bricklaying and ironworking, and preparing to offer certification examination refresher training in Cape Breton and Antigonish for interested members of the aboriginal community. At the high school level, a program called Finding Your Inspiration connects aboriginal students with job shadowing opportunities and post-secondary institutions.

The Labour and Advanced Education Department said of the 161 aboriginal apprentices in Nova Scotia, nine per cent are women. Nationally, Gladu said, women make up only four per cent of apprenticeship tradespeople, making them a major untapped workforce potential.

“We’ve got to start being more strategic in this country and take this chance to influence corporate Canada to recognize this as an asset to invest in,” he said. “We need to partner with governments to ensure the indigenous population is prepared. When that happens, Canada becomes a stronger country.”

The luncheon is taking place at the Westin Nova Scotian at 11:30 a.m. on Thursday.